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"To me, he was the greatest ambassador for boxing, the greatest goodwill ambassador in a sport where there's so much animosity and enemies," longtime matchmaker and former Dundee employee Bruce Trampler told the Associated Press.

Dundee and his brother and promoter, Chris, made South Florida a boxing destination when Chris opened the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach in the early 1950s.

In addition to Ali, other Dundee-trained fighters who trained at the 5th Street Gym and also became world champions included Luis Rodriguez and Willie Pastrano.

"Angelo was a mentor to me," South Florida-based promoter Ramiro Ortiz told The Miami Herald. "When we first started doing shows in the 1980s, he gave us tremendous advice and support.

Jim Dundee said his father had returned on a flight two weeks ago from Louisville, where he celebrated Ali's 70th birthday.

Doctors had warned him before the trip that flying might prompt a clot, which it did. He was hospitalized for a couple of days but apparently had recovered and was planning on visiting friends in Las Vegas.

"He had been doing great, that's the terrible part,'' Jim Dundee said. "He was a special guy who cared about everybody.''

During Ali's birthday celebration, Dundee talked to The (Louisville) Courier-Journal's Rick Bozich about his relationship with the great fighter, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease.

"We're like family," Dundee said of his relationship with Ali. "We've always been family and we're always going to be family. He'll say, 'Angie, I want to come and train. That's what I miss the most. Being in the gym. Working up a sweat.'

"I'll say, 'Me, too, kid. Me, too. We can't do that. But what I can do is make sure you know that I love you.' "

Dundee's longtime wife, Helen, passed away a little more than a year ago.

Funeral plans are pending.

***

Contributing: The Associated Press, The Miami Herald

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